Sexual imprinting is an early learning process by which young birds acquire the features of a potential sexual partner. The physiological basis of this learning process is an irreversible reduction of spine densities in two forebrain areas, the lateral neo- and hyperstriatum (LNH) and the medial neo- and hyperstriatum (MNH). The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the immediate early gene zenk, which has been shown frequently to play a role in plastic processes in the song system of zebra finches, may also be involved in the structural changes observed in these areas. The first exposure to a female after an isolation period enhances zenk expression in a variety of brain areas including LNH, MNH, and optic tectum. In contrast to earlier results, it was only the neostriatal part of LNH which showed an enhancement on first courtship, while exposure to a nestbox enhanced the label within the entire LNH area. Unexpectedly, the IEG expression was clearly lateralized in some layers of the optic tectum. Because lateralization occurred independent of the experimental condition, our study adds to recent results which also support the idea of a lateralized organization of the avian visual system. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.